Bill has announced his retirement from public performance starting January 1, 2009. I've gotten to see him several times over the years with Bruford, King Crimson and Earthworks; but wantied yetto see him again. He will certanly be missed.

I had the thrill of seeing Bruford play on two occasions, Boston, Mass in 1980 at the Paradise (League of Gentlemen tour) and again with Patrick Moraz at Toad's Place in New Haven (Music for Piano and Drums tour) 1985(?).
Bill was amazing! With the League his kit taking center stage his playing, for me at least, was the show. His skills, fluid movements and intensity was as close to a religious experience as I could possibly have. I still recall it vividly.
The New Haven show was up close and personal in many ways, small club, small stage two musicians and small crowd. I sat stage side all night and watched Bill paint a masterpiece with sounds armed with a small kit, a few accessories and his skills.
I later met him that night and we talked a bit, he was a gentleman, friendly and had a great sense of humor. Very down to earth. I was again blessed with the memories.

Bill did also an amazing job playing on tour with Genesis in 1976. I´ve got two brilliant recordings of entire shows from that period - Pittsburg and Cleveland - and I just can´t get enough listening to them. I also love his version of the famous 3/4 solo called The Drum Also Waltzes. Overally I have my favorites in every project he did. He is my drum teacher - but he doesn´t know it. :-)

Great drummer! One of my all time fav's. Just got the 40th Anniversary Red with DVD. Was surprised to see how raw he was. Very punk before punk existed.

Heart of the sunrise is still, to my mind, the greatest drum recording in the prog genre. All others are merely pretenders. And I am not refering to the paradiddle variation. I mean the interaction with Squire. Wonderful stuff.

Bill did also an amazing job playing on tour with Genesis in 1976. I´ve got two brilliant recordings of entire shows from that period - Pittsburg and Cleveland - and I just can´t get enough listening to them. I also love his version of the famous 3/4 solo called The Drum Also Waltzes. Overally I have my favorites in every project he did. He is my drum teacher - but he doesn´t know it. :-)

I'll second that. A wonderfully innovative drummer. I was very influenced by Phil Collins, and wrote to him at the time of Genesis's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album. To my amazement he replied and told me that Bill Bruford was one of his influences, which got me to listen to him much more. He excels in all aspects of drumming.

There's a drum break on one of the tracks on One of a Kind that is just staggering (unfortunately I've forgotten which track and I no longer have the album. It may have been Fainting in Coils (I can't get a link to this, as they've all been blocked!). The phrasing is unlike anything I've ever heard. Explosive, stuttering, polyrhythmic and perfectly in tune with the music.

Then there's Thirty Years on the first UK album Thirty Years the bit I'm talking about is 04'02" into the song. I have a book of his, If In Doubt, Roll! where this part is scored. At no point does he play any two drums and/or cymbals simultaneously. It looks and sounds really simple to play, yet is incredibly difficult. On top of that, he continually shifts the emphasis, creating an incredibly complex part that hardly seems to repeat at all, but weaves in and out while never losing the groove. He excelled at the deceptively simple.

And then there's his version of the Max Roach solo The Drum Also Waltzes on the Flags album (Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz) that is mentioned above. Incidentally, this is also scored in If In Doubt, Roll!. This is such a beautiful and beautifully recorded solo, as perfectly tuned and recorded as I've ever heard. It is musical, lyrical, technically brilliant - but never for its own sake -, dynamic and wonderfully paced, and compares well with the original. That's no mean feat. Max Roach is one of the true masters and another of my favourite drummers (as I believe he is Bill's too).

I have been lucky enough to see him four times with Bruford, three times with King Crimson (the last time with the double trio line-up), once with Earthworks (the original line-up) and finally, on the launch of his auto-biography. I particularly remember a track from the second Earthworks album, which sounds like it has a keyboard intro, but it's Bill using his Simmons X to play the melody line as well as the beat. And the interplay between him and Pat Mastelotto is amazing. He is also an extremely modest and approachable man. His auto-biography and the talk he gave were entertaining, informative and thought provoking. Never mind the wild parties, there are plenty of amusing and hair raising stories in his auto-biography. It's also very well written, so I'd recommend this to anyone who's a fan, or anyone with an interest in any of the bands he's played in.

BB has been a big influence since 1972 when I saw him with Yes on the Fragile tour. After that, I had tickets to see him with Genesis in 1976 but my car wasn’t working and I couldn’t make the trip. I was so disappointed! He did come to town though with UK, Bruford, Earthworks, Yes (again on the Union tour) and with Crimson. I took every opportunity to go see him.

I only had the pleasure of meeting him once when he visited a local record store the afternoon of the Earthworks (first group) concert. He and the lads were promoting the album and signing articles. He seemed to be a little uncomfortable with the whole thing but was very pleasant and gracious.

Bearing this event in mind, I passed up a chance for a one on one a few years later. He was with Yes on the Union tour and the morning after the concert, my wife and I saw him dining alone in the hotel restaurant where we were enjoying our breakfast. He looked serenely happy with his Sunday Times and a light breakfast. To me, he had given me everything I could reasonably expect at the performance the previous evening and my best payback to him would be not interrupting his peace and quiet.

With Yes' induction into the Rock Hall, do we know for sure that Bill is gonna come out and play with the remaining members or is he going to still get inducted regardless but not attend the ceremony?

Would love to see him play with Yes again but I doubt it. Would have given limbs to see the Close to the Edge/Fragile line up but being born in 1983 that was never going to happen. I was lucky enough to see the Yes Songs line up in 2004 but I've never been the biggest fan of Alan White with the exception of the Drama album (guilty pleasure)

Would love to see him play with Yes again but I doubt it. Would have given limbs to see the Close to the Edge/Fragile line up but being born in 1983 that was never going to happen. I was lucky enough to see the Yes Songs line up in 2004 but I've never been the biggest fan of Alan White with the exception of the Drama album (guilty pleasure)

I think he's enjoying his retirement!

Aww man... I would've loved to see Bill live but I was around 6 when he retired. But hey, I have all of the internet to find videos of him playing anyways.